
Mackenzie Douthit is over the hate she’s been getting for the names she chose for her infant twins, and she took to social media this week to express her frustration over it— and reveal more details about why she chose the names to begin with.
As The Ashley previously told you, the Teen Mom star welcomed twin daughters with her husband Khesanio Hall on June 2 after undergoing IVF and battling pre-eclampsia that resulted in the twins being born early. Soon after the babies’ arrivals, Mackenzie announced the names that she and Khesanio had chosen for them: Ja’Kharie Angie and Ja’Meikah Angella. While Mack explained that the girls’ middle names were chosen in honor of her late mom, Angie Douthit, and Khesanio’s mom Angella, she hadn’t explained the significance of the kids’ first names until now.
Immediately after announcing the monikers, Mack said she was inundated with hate from fans who disliked the twins’ names.
“As a couple, we love our kids’ names and we thought they’re beautiful,” Mackenzie said. “When we just held those names to ourselves we were really excited. But as soon as we put it out to the world, s**t hit the fan.”
Mack said the hate for the girls’ names overshadowed the happiness of their births, which came after Mackenzie experienced serious complications at the end of her pregnancy. (The girls ended up having to stay in the NICU for a while but went home earlier this month.)
“The moment they were born, no one was even like, ‘We’re so glad you’re alive, we’re so glad you made it through the pre-eclampsia, so glad the girls are healthy.’ No, it was immediately, ‘We hate the names!’ Mackenzie stated.
“…the day I had them and the day we put it out there, the comments were so sad to read,” she said later in the video. “… people saying, ‘You’ve ruined your kids’ lives.'”
Mackenzie went on to explain that Khesanio came up with the names for their daughters, and that she wanted him to have the experience of naming kids of his own. (As ‘Teen Mom’ fans know, Mackenzie shares her three oldest children— Gannon, Jaxie and Broncs— with her ex-husband Josh McKee.)
“I don’t understand what you guys wanted me to tell my spouse who fell in love with these names and are like, ‘These are my daughters’ names. These are the only kids I’ll ever have and this is what I’m naming them.'” Mackenzie said. “Did you want me to look at him and say, ‘Those names are too Black for me.’ Did you guys want me to say that? Because absolutely the hell not. I’m not going to say that. I love my girls’ names.”
In the same video, Mackenzie gave some background on why she and Khesanio decided on the names Ja’Kharie and Ja’Meikah for their daughters. She explained that in Khesanio’s family, the kids are given unique names that are usually pretty long.
“All of [Khesanio’s mother’s] grandchildren have names that start with ‘J’ and they’re all very long names. Like, three or four syllables long. So this will be grandkid number six and seven [for her]. And her last grandkids,” Mack— who had previously had her tubes tied before beginning IVF to have the twins— said. “So, all of them have the ‘J’ names, they’re very long names, and they’re names that, especially here in America, you haven’t heard, most likely. We already knew from the get-go that we were going to have to follow that trend.”
Mack said she and Khesanio would frequently FaceTime his mom— who lives in Jamaica— about what to name the twins.
“I wanted names that I’d never heard before, but I have heard these names before,” Mack said, adding that she asked Khesanio to wait until the girl were born before they announced what the names would be.
“[I told Khesanio], ‘I’m warning you right now, people are going to flip s**t,'” she said. “People are going to hate them. Especially because I’m white and these are my kids. We were just going to get a lot of s**t. I already knew.”
As predicted, Mackenzie received a lot of hate for the names. However, she insisted that she still loves her daughters’ names.
“These are my children and I do not care what the world thinks,” she said.